Wales Triple Crown Winners 2012

This is the sound of VICTORY!

Wales! Wales! Cymru am byth! We just won the Triple f**king Crown in Twickers, the english rugby HQ. Oh there is no joy in saesville. I could hear a leek drop mun! Wales 19 England 12. We are on course to win a third Grandslam in eight years. And by Ivor the Engine it feels good!
Now you know where you can park those chariots.


Belongs in Wales

God Wants Us Gone

Had to go out and buy what must be our seventh computer yesterday. We only bought the one before that a couple of weeks before Christmas!? And my Blackberry is slowly packing up. I might go looking at old blog articles to see if ive offended God in some way because im certain He wants to see Dai Jakes offline for good. Is He a big dog lover? Does He love vegetarians? What reason could there be in trying to sabotage every darned computer we get? Mr Jakes demands an answer!
If this carries on we'll have to be as rich as Croesus to keep up.
Or maybe there is a restless spirit about? A lost soul who sees computers as a modern pox on society and has taken it upon itself to rid the world of computers one at a time starting with Mr Jakes.
Whatever, this is the last one. This one dies and the blogging will continue off line like when we started in 1980.

No Cwtches?

Old John Prescott, (he of the 'two Jags' fame) has admitted he never hugged his son, and few others have backed this astonishing revelation up. What is it with folk these days? Thats what Dai Jakes wants to know. Have we lost the bond between parent and child? Has it withered into nothingness? I blame the interwebz myself. Its taught us how to be more successful in anti socialism. We are fine when yakking away on a computer screen, tapping out endless words to strangers but whenever we venture out into the real world, we somehow become as meek as mice.

Overkill Killing the Times

When Dai Jakes was 15, things were a lot different. There was no interwebz for one, and things like Twitter and Blackberry did what they said on the tin; birds tweeted and blackberries were made into pie and eaten with cream. If you were a fan of anything, you usually had to wait a while to learn whatever it was you were a fan of was doing. For instance Mr Jakes was into heavy metal but had to wait for Metal Hammer or Kerrang! to come out before hearing what Iron Maiden were up to that week.
And you want to know something? I kind of miss it. I could take it in better because it was bite sized. These days I can find out what all the singers and guitarists are doing every five minutes and truth be told its overwhelming. Quite boring too in one way as the BREAKING NEWS plods on in endless Tweets and Facebook feeds. Relentless like a mad typewriter overdosing on words. The excitement has gone, fled no doubt in fear of being drowned by the constant updates.
Now all this is fine if you happen to be a teenager with the enthusiasm those years bring, but to those of us reaching into the scrensavers of our forties, its not so much fun. Of course we can turn off everything and go back to buying weekly magazines but this is the future, the interwebz is here to stay so we might as well get used to information overload. Perhaps this is the trigger that will send mankind all crazy come the much speculated end of the world?
Too much information. It can be very liberating and empowering but there is a danger that it can also lead to stripping of all that was previously mysterious, leaving a bland landscape, devoid of adventure.
Too much information. Approach with care.

**And just to be clear, Dai Jakes loves the web. Being a blog, it is it lifesblood and readers can also find us elsewhere online.

Houston, We Have A Problem

Whitney Houston is dead.
And Piers Morgan has said said "Bobby Brown is the man everybody wishes Whitney never met. Her life spiraled out of control when she did."

Thats right, blame someone else. Its eaier. But its utter nonsense. I know a fair bit about drugs as it happens and thats like saying Sid Vicious' life was wrecked by Nancy. (She introduced Sid to heroin). But here's the rub, he would have found heroin on his own with or without her. Houston would have to, believe me. I took hard drugs myself and it wasn't peer pressure, I wanted them. So did Sid, so did this Houston woman.
Piers obviously hasn't a clue as to what he's talking about. The simple fact of the matter is that Houston partied hard (as she loved doing) only this time she lost. Good game girl! I know my end will come much the same way, I expect it. And won't be the least bit sorry when it happens.
Those of us who love to indulge in the wilder side of life know the risks and a fair few are quite willing to pay the dear price.
But I understand the common man's wish to put the blame on somebody else, like I said, its easier.

Dai Does Retro

It'll be fun!

Long time readers of the Dai Jake's Book will know he has a very keen eye on anything retro, especially if its from the 1970's and 1980's when Mr Jakes first went into 'print' in the notebook of a daydream loving schoolboy in West Wales.
So its been decided in the office that there is to be a Dai Jake's Retro Edition and it will be hosted by our spiffy new chums over on the Tumblr website. So what are you waiting for? Get on over there and follow us! Please? Pretty please? We have Welshcakes. And bacon.

Blazing Wet Cage of Fish

I think Nicholas Cage is an average actor. At best. There ive said it. Again. Now this normally wouldn't bother me, hell im free to ignore his movies afterall. But here's the rub; Ghost Rider. I am a huge fan of the comics world and old flaming skull is a big favourite of mine. (Thats one of my Ghost Rider figures in the photo below). Now can you see my grumble? Having Cage play Johnny Blaze for me (block capitals because this is my opinion) is like getting Rowan Atkinson to play BruceWayne/Batman.


Ghost rider in the...living room

And all I thnk is 'urgh!' Some folk say Keanu Reeves is a wooden actor and this may be true but Cage is worse. He has all the presence of a wet fish up there on the screen. Less frightening too. I thought it was hilarious when they cast him as the bad ass in Con Air, especially as he was appearing in a film with real bad assed actors like Danny Trejo and Johm Malkovich. Oh my sides did I LOL!
Some actors make long hair look cool and sexy. Heck long hair IS cool and sexy and yet in Con Air, John Poe looked like the love child of Lurch and Worzel Gummidge. Face it (face~ache?), Nic is no looker.
So now you see my utter disappointment with Ghost Rider.
Johnny Blaze is a young spunky guy for crying out loud. Neither of which can be said of the walking chin that is Cage. So who would the esteemed Dai Jakes pick? Well two straight off the bat are Robert Pattinson (of the vampire thingy), and Ryan Hurst who plays Opie in Sons of Anarchy. Both these guys are streets ahead of 'Knickerless' Nicholas.
Sort it out Hollywood casting types. Do a reboot like whats happening with Spiderman and cast one of these boys.

The Fear of Oddie

He's plotting something...

Righto, first things first, I like Bill Oddie. He has done a ton of great things for birds and nature, and looks like a genuinely good bloke to be around and have a few pints with. At least today he does. Rewind back to the late 70's and early 80's however and I almost jumped with fright at the mere mention of his name. Bill Oddie. Biiiiill Oddieeeee! *Shudder* To my younger self he was the bogeyman incarnate. Like clowns. Real bad clowns.
Bill was a member of a group of three comedians known as The Goodies who had a teatime television show, and it was by watching this (I was a big fan by the way) that my fear of Odd emerged. He was the wild one of the bunch, unpredictable and zany and this combined with his now famous beard created something 'not good' in my already overcooked imagination. His actions on screen as I stabbed a fork into another chip were for comedic effect but rather than translating his antics into comedy, my brain only conjured up scenes more at home in a nightmare. That mop or skateboard Oddie swung around, might just as well have been a bloodsoaked pickaxe or machete.
His facial expressions too, hilarious for most but to me a hairy mask that betrayed a homocidal streak. A streak wanting to leave nothing on its trail alive. (Side note: how did I ever get through childhood?)
I kept watching the show of course because children and adults love being afraid, but the dread of Bill appearing at any second almost had my heart beating out of its 'socket'.
Nosferatu. Dracula. Freddy Krueger. Pinhead. Pennywise the Clown. Michael Myers. Jason Voorhees. I would have shared a drink with any of you guys before the Oddie beast.